Fingers crossed that the sparging and boil will be as straightforward.
Brewday 25/03/2007: First AG attempt
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wooyay
Brewday 25/03/2007: First AG attempt
I thought I'd start easy by following DaaB's mini mash instructions and so far so good. The grains have been mashing in the oven for about 20 minutes so far and to my surprise the oven is keeping them at a nice 64-65C.
Fingers crossed that the sparging and boil will be as straightforward.
Fingers crossed that the sparging and boil will be as straightforward.
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wooyay
The boil's well under way now. 
Sparging took much longer and produced more wort than expected (8 litres in total before the gravity of the runnings dropped to 1.010) so I'm boiling 6 litres and using the remaining 2 for topping up during the first half of the boil.
The Fuggles are smelling wonderful, although my wife seems to disagree.
Sparging took much longer and produced more wort than expected (8 litres in total before the gravity of the runnings dropped to 1.010) so I'm boiling 6 litres and using the remaining 2 for topping up during the first half of the boil.
The Fuggles are smelling wonderful, although my wife seems to disagree.
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wooyay
Yesterday was an eventful day. I woke up to find the foamy yeast mixture slowly exiting the demijohn through the airlock (note for next time: do sort out a blow-off tube!).
It seemed to get more agressive during the day, but has now settled down to a bubble every four seconds. On the plus side, there's a lovely smell of beer in the kitchen now
In the past when making kits, I would normally leave the beer in primary for 7-10 days before putting it in to the keg for a month or so before drinking. Since the quantity of this is much lower, I'd like to bottle it. I've never bottled beer before, so I've got some questions:
1. How long should I leave the beer in primary before moving it to a second demijohn for secondary? Do I keep with the full 10 days, or until I notice no bubbles passing through the airlock?
2. Should secondary be fitted with an airlock, and is there any limit to the time left in it? I'm guessing the longer the better to allow the beer to mature, but will it be producing enough CO2 to prevent oxidation?
3. When I start to bottle and add priming sugars, will there be enough yeast left in the beer to add that sparkle, or should I really be saving some of the stuff from the bottom of the primary/secondary fermenters to also mix in?
Sorry if these are obvious questions, I'll just have to make more next time so I can keg it instead
Thanks!
It seemed to get more agressive during the day, but has now settled down to a bubble every four seconds. On the plus side, there's a lovely smell of beer in the kitchen now
In the past when making kits, I would normally leave the beer in primary for 7-10 days before putting it in to the keg for a month or so before drinking. Since the quantity of this is much lower, I'd like to bottle it. I've never bottled beer before, so I've got some questions:
1. How long should I leave the beer in primary before moving it to a second demijohn for secondary? Do I keep with the full 10 days, or until I notice no bubbles passing through the airlock?
2. Should secondary be fitted with an airlock, and is there any limit to the time left in it? I'm guessing the longer the better to allow the beer to mature, but will it be producing enough CO2 to prevent oxidation?
3. When I start to bottle and add priming sugars, will there be enough yeast left in the beer to add that sparkle, or should I really be saving some of the stuff from the bottom of the primary/secondary fermenters to also mix in?
Sorry if these are obvious questions, I'll just have to make more next time so I can keg it instead
Thanks!
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wooyay
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Bigster
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wooyay
I'm thinking of bottling this soon, but a quick question before I do. Is it possible to use liquid glucose instead of glucose powder to prime with? If so, how to the quantities compare with glucose powder?
With any luck, mini-mash #2 will be underway on Monday. All I need to do now is think about what I need to do a full 5g batch to start filling those Cornies
With any luck, mini-mash #2 will be underway on Monday. All I need to do now is think about what I need to do a full 5g batch to start filling those Cornies
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wooyay